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Fratricide hit a little too close to hoht the subject back to their search He really wished she’d stop fingering the brick

"Tragic, but what does all of this have to do with the artifact you’re looking for?"

She cast a sideways glance at hih she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk, but after ato so the earth who are char about Marked Sentinels"

"I didn’t think The Aegis was open about that"

"They aren’t," he said sil, so I was privy to some classified information" Actually, he had no idea if that was true for Josh, but it sounded good

"Okay, then you know they can’t be killed, but they can take their own lives Supposedly, one of these char with the slaughtered Christians He thought he could help guide their souls to Heaven"

"Why did he think that?"

"It’s said he was in possession of a coin imbued with special powers"

"And you thought this coin was hidden behind a brick?"

"I’d hoped so" She frowned "If it’s here, I’ll find it I always find what I’ for" She cocked an eyebrow at hiet what you want"

"Remember that" With a wink, he stood, offered her a hand, and helped her up "So, let’s think this through Anyone as charical artifact wouldn’t do so behind a brick He’d put it soht person Did you reach into the hole?"

"Yes, but I was looking for an object…" Bending over, she squeezed her hand into the crevice again Niiice Her pants were molded to her ass like shrink-wrap, and his entire blood supply rushed to his groin No panty lines Not One

"I’ve found soue slipped between her lips as she concentrated, and Wraith casually used his pal?" His voice had gone husky, but she didn’t see to turn it… ood ti into his backpack and re he’d acquired from Josh

She took the oval disk, a jeweled Ro Carefully, she inserted the pendant into the hole He heard a click, followed by another, louder click Nothing happened Disappointment put shadows in the hollows of Serena’s cheeks, and da to make it better

He didn’t have ti, because a rumble shook the floor, followed by a rain of pebbles and a poof of dust A dethened, but a crack had appeared in the far wall

A doorway

"Eureka," she breathed "I think we rabbed her before she could pry open the stone slab

"Wait Let ht be booby-trapped"

"Really," she said, "it’s safer for me"

"Why is that? Are you one of those charmed people?"

Her eyes flared, but she recovered quickly, with a blinding smile "Don’t be silly It’s just that I’et"

"Humor me" Sure, she was char hat he lived for Except… he was dying, so really, he had nothing to lose anyway

"Josh--"

He shoved the stone aside before she could argue, grih the Hall of Caracalla had been holding its breath Wraith’s natural night vision allowed hiht The rough-carved passage was dusty and full of cobwebs, slanting slightly doard on a floor of packed earth

Here the walls were chipped and grooved, bare of artwork, evidence that the area had been closed off soon after construction